When the Shepherds Flat Wind Energy Complex was built in eastern Oregon some time back, it applied for $30 million dollars in tax credits along with subsidies from the federal government’s Department of Energy. That’s because energy from a wind farm is very very expensive. Certainly many times “retail” to end user customers.

But the state of Oregon now is entertaining the idea that the developer behind the project maybe trying to “game” the tax/incentives system to get more taxpayer money than they deserve. The federal government is also more closely examining subsidy and incentive payments to wind energy generators on the east cost. The term “loop hole quicksand” is coming into fashion in describing the government’s “rush to green energy” programs. Here’s the story in the Oregonian. Click here.